We met some German speaking children on our trip today. And one of them asked their father (in German, but I understood enough):
- Why there is a fahrrad as there is einrad, fahrrad and dreirad?
I recently had the same experience. A gent on the sidewalk shouted “Nice bike! Where’s the handlebars?” To which I just pointed at my handlebars while riding away down the street, and he said “Whoa!!” or something similar.
Also, a kid on my block saw me walking (not riding) to school and started shouting “One tire! One tire!”
I was touched, till I learned that he shouted the same message to my roommate as she was riding her bike. He’s not quite got the counting down yet.
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as we were riding Muni in the Joaquin Miller park in Oakland (with the Berkeley gang)…
One (sad) MTBer: “gasp! … when I see that I feel horrible !” :o (by which he meant he was looking at feats he wouldn’t be able to perform)
I was riding in my driveway today and a lady walked past and said “thats awesome! I love tis town, people ride around on unicycles”
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You mean 2 square km? Yeah right but you see, it’s 100 km by 20 meter. (And then some.)
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First snowstorm of the winter here in Montreal. Riding during lunch on Mont Royal, and I was taking the switchbacks down to a street, and decided to cut across one of them, which meant riding down a small snow-covered slope (like, 3 inches of snow? max?) to hear some people as I pass going “No way! NO WAY!!!”
Another guy asked if I got good traction in the snow, so I told him it has all-wheel-drive 
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That’s great, one of the best I’ve heard! Congrats!
A guy today in the tram (I had my 24" standard with me):
“This doesn’t work. You can’t ride that. That’s impossible for me. Maybe if you put a little wheel in the back. Yes, then it could work, then there are two wheels.”
I was out for a night ride on the local streets. Sitting tall on the 36" with a helmet mounted light.
A woman who I know was also out walking her dogs and had a flashlight so I saw her as we approached.
“It could only be you! I couldn’t figure out that high light.” Followed by an old lady laugh of merriment.
We wished each other a pleasant night. Made me smile to know there’s always a friend out there somewhere.
“That’s showing off that is”
he had a point, so I said “sorry” 
While I was on the muni going up helvellyn, I passed a group of mountain bikers and got “that’s only half a bike” and on the decent I got off a group of walkers “that’s it I’ve seen everything now”.
Second nastiest utterance I’ve gotten is “I am sooo impressed.” as I rode a 20" up a sidewalk. (Nastiest was “Don’t fall! Don’t fall! Don’t fall!”.)
though the road was straight and flat (“palm drive” for those who know it) I was slowly panting along.
A guy on a bicycle overtook me and : “go and get a gear!”
This wasn’t nasty. Hence the smiley - we grinned at each other.
Very little I get is nasty (can’t honestly remember the last one I had which genuinely was), even when it’s the old cliches from young lads/men they’re generally just being young lads/men and trying to be clever. I’m sure we’ve discussed this loads before - maybe it’s just where I live, or that as an older (though far from elderly) man I tend to attract less aggression.
Which reminds me I haven’t mentioned the comments I got on my badly timed ride last week, when I rode along bike/footpaths past a couple of schools at school kicking out time. Nothing really specific, just lots of “wow”, “awesome”, “look at that”, though also some “sorry” from mums when their kids ran in front of me and I had to dismount. Badly timed from for getting a good ride in, perfectly timed for stroking the ego. One of the schools was a high school, and even the comments from the teenage lads were universally positive.
I almost without fail get high-5’s when riding past schoolkids (high- or primary-school age)
Not sure if this is a quote or not, but today I had a conversation with a guy who I rode next to up the road, who said he knows a certain rogeratunicycledotcom character 
Roger, if you speak to him at some point, tell him the ginger guy says hi
Had a conversation with a cyclist yesterday, as I rode my 29" around the loop in the nearby wood. Cyclist was in his late sixties, seasoned cyclists with full gear, neat bike and a crazy white moustache.
"A unicycle! I’ve always dreamt to learn it!
- You should, why not?
- Is it really difficult? You need a lot of balance?
- You need perseverance more than balance, it’s about rewiring your brain to learn a new thing."
That got him thinking for a second. Maybe he’ll try one.
Before leaving, he asked what was the handlebar on my uni, first time he ever saw one on a uni. “For long distance riding.” That got him thinking again…
Love it when you see “the wheel” turning in somebody’s head while talking about learning.
Last night I was mentioning handlebars to my husband. He’s a cyclist and just had to add the thought that if I’m considering handlebars shouldn’t I just start riding my bike. Of course he was thinking of ones for a bike. Had to show him pictures of what I was talking about.
So that discussion got me thinking. Why do some unicyclists ride long distance on their unicycle? I have a goal of doing 14 miles by the end of next summer. But is it crazy to do really long distances (and try to go faster)? Is it so much better or different than a bike?
Because they can. That answer applies to pretty much any question about why people do something on a uni.
In my case my aim is to do an organised ride on my guni. Have had that aim for a few years, but only in the last couple of months have I got anywhere near competent enough on the guni to think it a realistic goal - which is good timing, as my oldest son is just about at the point where he might also be up to doing the shortest route on one (I think we’re talking 25 miles).
Yes you’re right. Thanks. Same about anything people do.
Vertigo, I might be the odd one out on this but my attitude in taking up unicycling has been to not repeat what I’ve already done in running, bicycling, and skating, which was to try to go as far and fast as I could. I’m not looking to go through that again except this time on a unicycle, and maybe I also have a pretty good idea that my distances and times on one wheel aren’t likely to be any more impressive than they were on no wheels or two or ten. 
The skill side of unicycling is what’s made it fresh and interesting for me, teaching myself tricks (even though my progress at that seems really slow) and learning how to get through and around and over various obstacles off-road. And I have a feeling that there are fitness benefits from learning and practicing different skills that you won’t get just rolling along the road at a steady speed.
That said, there’s something to be said for having the aerobic fitness and pedaling efficiency to complete multi-hour road rides, and it seems like a lot of that would have to carry over to other modes of unicycling.
Anyway good luck with the 14-miler. As quickly as you’ve come this far, I’m sure you’ll get there no problem.